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Worlds out of balance

{Not that I actually made it to the beach since we got back, nor have either of us been near a camera. Nor have I picked up a book. But I did drink lots of coffee and this photo happened to be on a memory card lying on the dining table and I have forgotten how much I like that shirt.}

I guess when after almost a week back home, the Head and Shoulders shampoo bottle still makes you think you're in Dubai, it's safe to assume that you haven't quite arrived back to reality yet. 

  

Is it just me or there's a definite resemblance?

Physically in Florida but still in a maze of time zones, caught up in layers of colliding realities. You can't help but change a little with each of these trips. 

Many years ago, after my first visit to an Afghani refugee camp in Pakistan, my life changed forever in ways that are hard to describe. Without getting into the horrors of it all, let's just say that after everything I experienced in that camp that day, I promised myself I was never going to complain about anything in my life ever again. 

And a few months later, back home, in the 10-items-or-less checkout line of Albertson's, there I was, bitching about the woman in front of me having 11 items in her cart.  

Where everybody knows your name

Sixteen thousand miles, copious amounts of meetings and a piece of missing luggage later -- we're home.

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A few pounds heavier {:some of it may just be dirt but the rest is to be blamed on that delicious Pakistani and Middle Eastern cuisine:} and in dire need of a tail bone transplant, {:courtesy of Flight EK 1787:} but real happy to be back. 

My sincerest apologies for all the unanswered email --  I just downloaded a week's worth of email and finding out that some of you in Karachi and Dubai actually wanted to meet me... I am just banging my head on the wall for having missed you. If it makes anyone feel any better I didn't even get to meet Mehreen and her friends in Lahore, even though we have planned it in advance... I never made it up to Lahore -- the best laid plans of mice and men often go... wrong? ...amiss? ...awry? {:My brain cells are not exactly participating in this blogging process right now. Fifteen hours in a plane and a sleazy NYC airport hotel tend to take a toll on your mental capacity, I tell you.:} 

For everyone's benefit, I should probably just stop right here and not resume any form of communication till I've had at least eight hours of sleep. 

But here is the last official photo of this trip, leaving JFK: 

 

Thank you again for following my adventures and for all your lovely comments.

 

ONE LOVE  BY THE ONE AND ONLY BOB MARLEY

Until next time.

Love, Agnes

Postcards from Dubai: The Land of Superlatives

What can I say about Dubai that hasn't already been said and what's there to be photographed that hasn't already been photographed a million times over? 

Not much, my friends, not much, you've heard it all and seen it all: the land of the tallest, shiniest, biggest, richest, brightest, most amazing everything and beyond and I have to admit it is as spellbinding in person as it is in brochures. I am pretty convinced in Dubai no coffee spills ever occur and things like bacteria simply do not exist. Cigarettes smell good (they do!), women don't age and your choice of beverage is always exactly the right temperature. 

Everything is just as you expect it, mind blowing, extremely Star-Wars like, fascinating, exactly as you've seen it in pictures: apartment buildings that rotate around the core of the skyscraper thusly providing their tenants a new view to wake up to each morning, 30K a night underwater hotel fantasies with just a glass wall between your bed and the sea life, the best of all worlds, and in spite of its out-of-this-world-perfection it still manages to remain charming.  

It's upward of 110F here, yet the heat is totally bearable. 

Write the future -- I love that slogan. 

My Geoff :-)

{:Having coffee in the old, more naturally developed Dubai -- this is the part where you see laundry drying on balconies, mismatched curtains, imperfection and other hints of natural life. There you go, that's what I should have been taking photos of... to tell you the truth both Geoff and I have been very uninspired to take photographs. Sometimes cameras get in the way of the moment if you know what I mean and we've both been pretty tired...:}

{:Old Dubai:}

I might just upload a few more photos later, we'll see.

IN MY LIFE BY BONNIE TYLER

Until then.

Agnes

Good bye Pakistan hello Dubai

Left Pakistan yesterday. 

Checked into what seems to be the loveliest hotel room in the heart of downtown Dubai for almost a day now, all we can account for for the past 24 hours is an hour long steamy hot mint bath each. That and pigging out on room service the entire day, drifting in and out of consciousness, without the faintest resemblance of any kind of urge to do anything besides rolling with my newfound love for the World Cup, potato skins and sour cream, air conditioners, insanely crisp sheets, electricity, bath tubs, running water and a really good smelling Geoff. 

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{Dubai via enviralment.files.wordpress.com}

I know it won't be long before I start longing for the crazy noises of my beloved Karachi again, the dusty roads, the power outages, those authentic rural moments and the strange lack of privacy I am almost immune to, but until then, right now, in the heart of the Middle East, in this strange fantasy we call Dubai, this hotel room is everything I want. 

{current view from my bed}

Thanks for visiting.

Until next time.

Agnes

The many faces of Karachi {aka photo overload}

I've never quite known how to describe Karachi. 

Anyone living here or anyone who has visited here please feel free to chime in.

It's basically this gigantic metropolis of about 15 million people and while not the capital city of Pakistan (Islamabad is) it's certainly the largest and liveliest of all the Pakistani cities I've been to. It's very rich and very poor at the same time, it's both colorful and colorless, the days are mostly hot and humid and at the same time fairly dusty. Certain times it all feels very magical and fairy tale like while other times there's this post-cataclismic undertone to everything. 

I really can't describe it however hard I try and I think this is exactly why cameras were invented.  

And here's some music too, it's way better than me talking :-)

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TANITA TIKARAM: TWIST IN MY SOBRIETY (ANCIENT HEART)

   

 
 

  

  

America runs on Dunkin :-)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for following me on this trip :-)

Until next time.

Agnes   
 

Pakistan Fashion -- Veils of terror and faces of courage

{LIVE FROM PAKISTAN #4}

Here is the Pakistani fashion-themed post I decided to whip together for those of you who are interested. 

The order of the day here, dress code wise is an adaptation of your standard Islamic gear:

EXTREMELY MODEST, FLOOR LENGTH, USUALLY LONG SLEEVED, NON-PROVOCATIVE ATTIRE WITH VARYING DEGREES OF HEAD COVERINGS. 

Some women do not cover their head at all, some cover their entire face minus the eyes, some cover all their hair but not the face and the list goes on. It is not mandatory to wear head covering per se, but let's face it, women have been beaten, disfigured and even killed for venturing outside the boundaries of the veil restricted local trends. I know these are isolated examples but they do happen.

{photo by Amirashkan Pishroo via http://iranian.com}

WHEN I PERCEIVE EVEN THE SLIGHTEST DEGREE OF CONCERN MY CAUCASIAN FEATURES SOMETIMES GENERATE HERE, YOU'LL SEE ME COVER MY HEAD, MAINLY TO AVOID THE UNWANTED ATTENTION.  

Of course it's also a considerably resourceful last minute option in the rather likely event of not having sufficient time (or water pressure) (or interest) to wash my hair. Or sometimes the local vibe just takes over my mood altogether and the scarf is begging to be incorporated into my outfit. I don't think about it all that much really, I guess, like anywhere else, you just gotta go with what feels right.

I find the colors of local spices so inspiring:

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For the most part, the modern, bright colored local outfits are not really my thing -- but I am a huge fan of the old, ethnic, preferably tribal influenced pieces. I tend to gravitate to this worn out/dusty/faded mood -- although this is definitely not what you'll see modern people wear in the streets on a typical day:

 

Pakistan, in a strange way reminds me of some of the Star Wars planets.

Although not the same hi-tech planets Dubai reminds me of. More like those desert-y ones with a sense of a post-apocalyptic feel where the Skywalkers hail from. 

Star Wars:

 

 

 {images from Star Wars}

See what I mean?  

Anyway, on a casual day or on a day in the not-so-posh areas I'd wear something like this:

{forgive my hair being such a mess -- clearly, I  should  have covered my head}

Instead of going head-to-toe local, I prefer to mix it up with my own style, whichever way I deem it practical/appropriate based on where I happen to be that day. That could span anywhere from long uncomfortable drives through the dessert on questionable roads, in questionable cars, drinking from rather questionably sealed water bottles, to lingering in an air conditioned, wrinkle-free business environment in some luxury hotel.  

On a non-big-meeting day, like today, I am likely to opt for something along this general line, even though none of this is truly local but somehow, it consummately embodies the wavelength I happen to be on most of the time:

 

Dressing for business/important meetings:

For the most part, for official meetings I stick with the same general business concept I would at home -- tailored pant suits plus high heels, except here I pay special attention to consistency with local conservative measures, i.e. long sleeves, nothing too tight or revealing, etc. When at a meeting, trying to get a contract, I just prefer to be business like and ooze competence and professionalism, if you get my drift. 

To avoid having to bring too much business gear, I try to keep the colors within an easily interchangeable mix-and-match frame as to get more milage out of each piece without having to repeat the exact same combination twice. It would be something similar to this:

 

Boring I know. Geoff loves it when I am in full business gear, I can never understand why. 

Me in business-meeting garb:

Then of course, as our local relationships advance from the negotiation/presentation phase to a having-reached-a-happy-agreement stage, the meetings tend to take on a more relaxed feel and morph into semi-formal dinners, at which point I might consider throwing in a couple of cocktail gear elements, even fancy ethnic pieces while still trying to maintain an overall modest/conservative feel. 

 

It's a bit hard to explain, because what feels appropriate in one scenario might be totally unworkable in another. 

A tad more playful & relaxed but still muted & reserved: 

 

In the end, competence will always make your fashion choices become a no-issue. 

LIKE ANY OTHER DAY IN ONE'S LIFE, IT JUST SEEMS TO BE A COMBINATION OF THE APPLICABLE LOCAL TRENDS ADAPTED TO THE OCCASION, AND I GUESS INEVITABLY SPICED UP WITH A TWIST OF ONE'S OWN STYLE.  I mean, I am not trying to look like I am not me. There's a strange sort of energy I derive from the fact that I am comfortable in my own skin and call me crazy, but when I feel under dressed, over dressed or just in general don't feel like I am dressed as myself, I actually feel powerless. Weird yes - but true.

So there you have it, this is the best I could do on the topic. 

It's hard for me to put a finger on what inspires me on a daily basis and why I like the pieces I do and not other pieces. Hope you enjoyed my post anyway.

Until next time.

Agnes

Pakistan continued

{LIVE FROM PAKISTAN #3}

{Sorry about the quality, I had to doctor this photo quite a bit -- there was a guard in it who is not allowed to have his photo taken. 

I am not very good at editing so you can totally tell that I messed around with it but I know you'll cut me some slack -- I really, really wanted to show you my local self.}

I have about 10% charge left on my laptop and we have a black out so this is probably going to be a rather short post. 

There are three power outages per day here, each one hour long, designed to preserve energy.  Most hotels, bigger restaurants and shops all have generators so this is usually a good hour to go get something to eat.

We hit this cafe almost every day but since they explicitly told me not to take photographs there, I am just not gonna tell you what it's called. Anyone in Karachi I am sure will recognize it. Here is another photo of it, notice the South African flag hanging there? 

Due to some strange turn of events, Geoff and I found ourselves in an electronics store last night lounging on foldable red lawn chairs with three local guys and five body guards watching the opening game of the World Cup. Don't ask how I ended up there! Luckily we were only made to watch the first ten minutes...

I do not actually remember experiencing scheduled power outages on our previous trips, or maybe I just didn't notice them. 

Loading some random photos here while I've still got some charge left.

I love this country so much. 

I sometimes feel as though I am a character straight out of "Arabian Nights". I love wearing local outfits or at least incorporating some pieces into my regular gear. Maybe I'll do up a post on local fashion/how I as a westerner get by here. Anyone interested?

 
I don't think these carpets would go very well with my decor back home but I would sure love to get my hands on some bags made out of old Afghani carpets...

 

Yay, the power is back -- gotta go. For a quick post, I did pretty well I think. 

Thanks for visiting. I hope you're enjoying this little peak into life in this part of the world. 

Until next time.

Agnes

*UPDATED: A quick Pakistani food post for my good friend Lucky {*I added a few photos}

{LIVE FROM PAKISTAN #2}

It's 4 in the morning, hot and humid and sticky yet I can't think of a place I'd rather be. Days are slipping by fast, and I am never quite sure what day and what time it is. 

I think it's one part jet lag, one part late night dinners with friends and two parts trying to get a lot of work done that keeps us in a time zone of our own. 

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Just stepped out of the shower and finally decided to whip up a quick little post for my good friend Lucky, who I know is on pins and needles to see some Pakistani food photos. 

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Geoff and I are just winding down from a long day in our room overlooking Clifton beach and sometimes I swear I can hear the waves of the Arabian sea at night but as Geoff has just pointed out it's probably just the moaning of the air conditioning unit.

The view from our balcony. You can't actually see the sea but it's right there. 

And all these food photos are for Lucky, who I know is dying to see them. I am not quite sure what everything is called, anyone knows what these are please feel free to chime in. All I know is kulfi and kheer. And marsala of course. And naan. Feel free to correct my spelling by the way.

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My wild guess is that this is called "batair qorma" :-) 

Condiments. Some are VERY spicy! 

Don't you worry Lucky, I have a ton more food photos and will keep posting them (they take forever to load here). 

One last one I couldn't resists, the door man:

As time permits, I plan on posting more photos. 

I am trying to keep the images on the tame side here, I am sure you're well aware that there's sort of an R-rated aspect to this part of the world but at this point I am not quite sure how much of that I should or shouldn't show here. It's practically everywhere you look. 

Thanks for visiting.

Until next time.

Agnes

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*EDIT: In answer to Chrissy's comment, by R-rated I wasn't referring to the violence (explosions/blasts) you see on CNN and BBC. Believe it or not, those are just a few a bad apples, the vast majority of the people here are overwhelmingly nice and friendly. They will bend over backwards to help you any way they can, really. I was actually referring to the poverty/child labor that unfortunately is a rampant sight to see around here and I will never be immune to it.

** EDIT #2: I just took a few photos on my way home last night. I haven't mastered the night settings on this camera yet but I kinda like how they turned out. Enjoy.

No parking :-)

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Traffic.

I love the local buses.
A rickshaw.    

I bid you all a good night :-)

Agnes

Silent hopes dusty prayers

{LIVE FROM PAKISTAN #1}

This country is definitely not for the faint of heart but how can I help but love it anyway.

And here we are, as I said, my 13th time and for Geoff it's visit #15.

I will never be able to explain to many of my western friends what's so great about this desert here, the unbearable heat, all the dust, the constant worry about blasts and explosions, but for me, in spite of all of the above, Pakistan was love at first sight and there's nothing I can do about it. I love this country with all its hopes and hopelessness, with all its poverty and all its wealth -- I love it with my every molecule. 

I will never be able to describe that very first moment when you step out of the airport at 5 am, just in time to catch the locals getting ready for the morning prayers, and as you take in your first breath of this muggy air, complete with a peculiar blend of enticing and not so enticing scents, and with a million eyes staring at you all at once, both friendly and hostile, the sheer knowledge that you've arrived makes you so happy.

Love;

Agnes

Grounded in Dubai

I am so exhausted my brain cells should be legally restrained from getting within a 10-mile radius of my blog but since several of you were worried that we were caught in the storm that hit Karachi, I wanted to let everyone know that we've been waiting out the storm (which at some point before it hit the country of Oman I believe was a category 4 cyclone) here in Dubai. Many cancelled flights and a bucket full of falafels later we finally left for Karachi this morning but just as we were about to touch down the storm gave the pilot no choice but to abort the landing attempt and bring us back to Dubai where it's safe and dry. 

From the little I could tell from the plane, Karachi did look pretty badly flooded. 

Hope everyone is OK there.

Both Geoff and I are extremely exhausted from several days of camping out at airport lounges and the airport hotel but I guess overall we are just lucky to both be safe.

On the bright side I did find out how I look with 5 sleepless nights worth of under eye circles. 

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